Trey Anastasio's Guitar Equipment, tour-by-tour

Summer 2017

Trey brought some significant changes to the rig for Summer Tour 2017. A quick overview:

Effects. Most notable on the effects side is the addition of a pair of Eventide Space Echo Reverbs and a Moogerfooger MF-104M Analog Delay. Also of note: the Alesis Microverb and Beigel Tru-Tron are out.

Ambikab. Additionally, there was an important change on the guitar cabinet front, as Trey swapped out one of his Bruno Cabs for Komet Ambikabs — a cabinet built by the company that produced his amplfiier heads that is specially designed to handle guitar effects. According to a source close to the rig, this change was made as part of Trey’s tireless quest to find a cleaner rhythm sound. Per this source, Trey’s Ambikab is a NAMM show prototype. The cabinet has two 12″ speakers (Celestial Heritage 65’s currently) that are fed a dry signal directly from the Komet amp head. It also has two 8″ speakers that handle the “wet” signal. The dry signal is sent out to the Supa-Puss and the second Eventide Space Reverb and then returns to the Ambikab which re-amps it as a wet signal to the 8″ speakers. So there are two 12″ dry speakers and two 8″ wet speakers, allowing the time-based effects to color the guitar’s sound without overwhelming it.

Ross Compressor. The Ross was in for the first few shows of the tour and and was then removed; details below.

Details and photos below. The extent of the changes suggests that Trey continues to be deeply focused on tweaking and improving his tone and effects in the wake of the big NYE 2016-17 overhaul.

Amplification: Trainwreck Komet 60 (x2) — 1 of these amps is a backup as Trey is no longer running a 6L6 and an EL-34 amp. During the Baker’s Dozen, Trey brought the Victoria Reverberato back to the rig.

Below: the rack pedals. Early in the tour, the Ross is in a CAE loop (2 ROSS), which meant Trey could add and subtract it as needed rather than having it always-on or always-off . Also note the two new midi controllers at the base of Trey’s rack: a Peak FCB42N midi controller (for the Eventide), and a Vongon Midi Controller (for the Moog delay).

Later in the tour, the Ross was removed. In the photo below, you can see it’s gone from the rack and the Victoria Reverberato has been added (the Victoria took the Ross’s place in CAE loop #2). See the Pedals page for a well-sourced explanation as to why the Ross was removed.

Below you can see the Supa-Puss has moved from the rack to atop the Komets, along with a second Eventide. These two effects are not in the CAE loop, but are instead part of the Ambikab’s dedicated and re-amped effects loop. They are used for more subtle delays and reverbs while Trey is using his clean tone, whereas the other Eventide and Moog are used for more intense delay and reverb effects.

Below the Ambikab is on the right and the Bruno cabinet is on the left. According to a source, the Bruno will soon be replaced by a backup Ambikab. (UPDATE: the Bruno has been removed; the second photo below is from later in the Baker’s Dozen run and both cabinets are Ambikabs).

Below is the floor array, with some changes to the FS-5 Boss pedal array. The bottom row of Boss FS-5’s are (left to right) (1) ONCE for the Boomerang; (2) Kill switch for the wet signal from the Ambikab; (3) Tap Tempo for the Supa-Puss; (4) Tap Tempo for the Moog MF-104M.

The top row of FS-5’s are (left to right) (1)Leslie fast / slow; and (2) Leslie on / off.

The signal chain is substantially revised as of this tour, and is as follows:

The Ambikab’s effects loop runs to a second Eventide Space Reverb and the Supa-Puss analog delay, which run to the cab’s 8″ speakers, while the 12″ inch speakers run the dry signal. Below is a look at the Ambikab input section from the rear:

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37 thoughts on “Summer 2017”

WHY did trey axe the TruTron, I was so excited to see when he carried it over from GD50. I always loved the Mutron sound, and thought it was a shame more people didn’t use it the way Jerry did, it was so expressive and funky. When Trey was building jams around it in 2016 I couldn’t help but think its about time. why oh why did he take it away?

How is he utilizing the Bruno cab and the Komet cab? Which speakers are in the Komet cab?

Seems like the Supa Puss and second Eventide Space are the effects in the Komet “Wet” section. Is the space run in stereo? Since they are both set 100% wet, are these FX in parallel? If they are, how are they hooked up? If in series, how is he utilizing the delay and the reverb together?

I am wondering as well if the Guitar goes straight into the Bradshaw Rig, and then if the Wah is in Loop 1 with the Whammy? Or does the guitar go into the wah first, then to the Bradshaw Switcher. From the looks, it seems like the guitar goes directly into the switcher, but can you confirm? Also, does the switcher have an input buffer so his guitar hits a buffer first thing before all the cable runs? Output buffer?

Where in the chain is the boomerang? And any insight into what other types of presets he’s using on the Eventide Space on the Rack? Seems the floor midi controller controls that Eventide, as it’s the only pedal with a midi cable attached (couldn’t see if the Moog MF104M had a midi connection).

Is he using the Moog now for the rhythmic delays? Tap Tempo connected or midi? Assuming the Supa Puss is now used more for a subtle ambient delay along with the Plate Reverb?

Is the TS9 an analogman modded TS9? A silver with that lost the label?

Also, really interesting that he’s now using the compressor BEFORE overdrives.

Possible to confirm this? I recall reading he was definitely using a CAE buffer and remember NYE 2015 seeing a CAE line driver buffer in the rig for the small stage set. The buffer would be built into the 4×4 internally at the input.

This is the best setup I’ve heard or seen since the ’95 ’96 rig. Those eventide space reverb pedals are an excellent addition. The mutron is Jerry not Trey and I’m glad that he decided to get rid of it. I wish he’d duplicate the exact rig from ’94-’97. That’s Trey…just saying, in all due respect I like sound of this setup and think it’s the best sounding one since the late ’90s. I think the TS-8 for his heavy distortion sounds good but nothing beats the 2 analog man TS-9 mods.

From pictures, it seems Trey is using the Ambikab in Mono…does anyone know if he’s running the Supa-Puss into the Eventide Space or the other way around? A question I have is since both FX are 100% wet, assuming they are in series and not in parallel, wouldn’t the reverb only add reverb to the delayed signal (if it was delay before reverb)? I’m trying to gauge how he’s using the delay and reverb in conjunction to get his “ambience”? Most rigs I’ve seen that are Wet/Dry and have Delay and Verb as Wet have them in Parallel, so both delay and verb effects the original dry signal. If they were in series Delay > Reverb, the original guitar signal would never hit the reverb – only the delay repeats.

Ok I’m not passing any judgement on Trey’s new rig. I believe in and truly understand that he gets bored easy and likes change. That’s what makes Phish great. In the old days and today one of the best qualities of Phish is their ability to constantly reinvent themselves and focus on different aspects of musicality. I’m not living in the past but in the 90’s-2003 especially each tour from ’94-’99 it was like I was seeing the same band that I love constantly changing their philosophy and approach musically but never (especially Trey) really changing his gear. He used the same Mesa head since the late ’80s early ’90s and has been vocal about why he never changed his rig. In the early 2000’s he changed to Fender and used the Bruno cabs but everything else was pretty much the same. I don’t know about you all and I say this with utmost respect because I trust his judgement and understand his ethos musically.. as a long time listener and fan after watching last nights Dayton show I noticed he had problems with his clean tone. I also noticed (if you have seen/heard)The Squirming Coil as many times as I have you know that is a tune that he most likely uses both his both distortion pedals at the same time to get the sustain he does and the TS-8 overdrive didn’t make the cut. It just didn’t I hate to say that because like I said I understand that Trey’s whole career has based on taking chances and change and he amazing because of it but he needs to spend more time with his new gear. It was a good show and that’s just my opinion. I’m not a phishier than thou fan that likes to criticize Trey because I have a deep understanding after years of being a fan. I’ll still listen to him play until the very end and support Phish no matter what. That’s just my opinion and observation from listening to last nights show very closely.

Any updated pics or info? Looks like the Victoria Reverb is back under the amps, and also I dont see the compressor anymore; seems like the Moog is over to the right side and the comp is out? Perhaps back in the rig as an always on, post-od comp? Or just out all together?

Interesting that the Trem is pre-OD then in loop 2…would assume Trem would come after ODs…do you know why he got rid of the comp and is it definitely not always on after the ODs again in the back of the rack?

I think that it’s worth mentioning that the loops in the CAE 4×4 can be wired in any order. What that means is the signal chain isn’t necessarily in the same order as the effects are labeled. The reverberato in loop 2 is a perfect example. I guarantee you he’s not running that second in his chain… it’s more likely that each loop is chosen by which switch on the RS-10 controls it. It’s much easier to re-wire the order of the loops than to keep re-programming the RS-10. I hope this is helpful in some way.

I agree that’s possible, but my understanding from the folks I’ve spoken to is that the order I’ve posted is the actual order, with the Reverberato in slot 2. That would be a strange place if he was using the reverb function, but less strange since he’s only using it for Tremolo.

Thanks for the response. I still think it’s strange to put Tremolo in front of drives (it would be more of a gain change than a volume change), but I have no complaints about what I’ve been hearing during this run. Cheers!

Any insight into whether Trey typically stacks the 2 tube screamers, or simply uses one or the other these days?

Also, I gotta say I think the octave down/wah tone doesn’t sound as good with the whammy before the wah…it used to have a growl to it that it’s now missing…tracking of the notes is perhaps cleaner, but it sacrifices some of the torque from that tone to my ear.

The Moog Delay sounds amazing compared to the Supa Puss for the rhythmic delays, and the Space Effects (Reverse, Flange Tiles all sound incredible!). Is it possible to find out which other algorithms Trey is using on the Space? What is he using the Midi controller on the Moog for? Seems like he’s adjusting by hand (and tapping tempo at the Boss FS).

The Wet FX (Supa Puss > Space set to Plate) sound great and his tone is really clear with the W/D setup…though the wet FX must be set very subtlety…more felt than heard, as I really only hear delay when he uses the Moog and the first Eventide Space. I can hardly tell when he has the Ambikab Wet engaged vs Kill Dry.